


The Sweet Smell of Coffee

by betheflame



Series: Stucky Bingo 2019 [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alpha Tony Stark, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Anal Sex, Beta Bucky Barnes, Cuddling & Snuggling, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Hand Jobs, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi, Omega Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:01:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22306846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betheflame/pseuds/betheflame
Summary: Before Steve could fully convince his legs to move, there was a gentle hand on the back of his neck and his nostrils were filled with the scent of a calm beta.“Pal, my name is James and I’m a beta. I know you’re unbonded and you have ‘bout fifteen alphas' eyes on you right now, so how about I get you out of here and take you to my house? My alpha is a really good cook and we have a room for heats - my sister comes so we can protect her. It’s yours if you want it.”It was a testament both to Steve’s desperation and the fact that his slick glands were starting to release that he simply nodded and let the man guide him through the check-out line. Every element of his being was focused on not slicking himself in public.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Stucky Bingo 2019 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1454413
Comments: 83
Kudos: 1220
Collections: Ironwinter fics by Egg, Marvel Polyship Bingo 2020, Star Spangled Bingo 2020, StarkSpangledWinter Wonderland Event, Stucky Bingo 2019, Tony Stark Bingo 2020, Tony-involved Omegaverse Fics





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Marie for the beta, the Stuckony server for the pompoming, and whoever came up with this prompt for the idea. 
> 
> This covers FIVE events, so I've put all the claims in the end notes.
> 
> Also - briefest of _briefest_ implications of past abuse for our Stevie. Happens off-page and it's implied more than anything, but covering all bases.

Steve _hated_ going grocery shopping. There were all those people and they were either in the biggest hurry in the damn world or they were stationary in front of the one shelf of spaghetti sauce he needed to get to.

Steve wasn’t a loner, he just … didn’t like people. Not really.

Well, that wasn’t fair. He liked some people - mostly other omegas, mind you, and a handful of betas. Sam and Nat and Clint, they were fine. That girl who lived down the hall - Sharon. Also acceptable. He liked kids - especially before either of them could become an alpha - and he was always happy to help out down at the widowed omegas homes that the city had built out on Roosevelt Island.

So, really, if Steve was honest, he just didn’t love alphas.

And he _really_ hated male alphas.

When he first presented as an omega, before his growth spurt, the nuns at the orphanage had told him that his best bet for his crippling anxiety about intimacy and bonding would be to find a female beta. Betas, after all, were switches and their secondary genitalia didn’t fully coalesce until bonding.

But then he turned sixteen. Like someone shot him with a growth serum, he added 5 inches and about 75 pounds to his frame in one summer. He started getting mistaken for an alpha upon sight (until someone scented him), but his fear about bonding never diminished. Spending the first four years of your life getting screamed at by your giant alpha father would do that, he supposed.

So now, Steve was stuck in a body that matched his primary gender but not his secondary one, complete with a panic disorder and a desperate need to defend helpless omegas. Nat called him ‘Puzzle’ and he figured it fit.

This particular trip to the grocery store didn’t do anything to dissuade Steve’s hatred of such establishments or his wariness of large groups of people. He couldn’t scent anyone properly when everything was so overwhelming and his anxiety always went into overdrive.

_Okay, just garlic bread, and some extra kosher salt, and then -_

He felt the tell-tale flash of pain - like someone shoved a hot poker directly into his abdomen.

 _Fuck_.

Three heads turned towards him immediately and Steve low-key began to panic. His scent was always the strongest during his first twelve hours as an unbonded omega.

_I have to get out of here, I have to -_

Another stab of pain nearly brought him to his knees. He knew it was biological - an unbonded omega was clearly in need of protection - that his heats were so painful. But he also wasn’t about to bond with someone just to be out of pain. He thought he’d had another few days, but the possible panic attack brought on by the crowds at the grocery store must have triggered something.

_Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck fuck._

Before Steve could fully convince his legs to move, there was a gentle hand on the back of his neck and his nostrils were filled with the scent of a calm beta.

“Pal, my name is James and I’m a beta. I know you’re unbonded and you have ‘bout fifteen alphas' eyes on you right now, so how about I get you out of here and take you to my house? My alpha is a really good cook and we have a room for heats - my sister comes so we can protect her. It’s yours if you want it.”

It was a testament both to Steve’s desperation and the fact that his slick glands were starting to release that he simply nodded and let the man guide him through the check-out line. Every element of his being was focused on not slicking himself in public.

* * *

Tony’s phone binged with Bucky’s tone.

_Buck: Found an unmated omega going into heat at McCaffery’s. He’s also on the verge of a panic attack, so I just got his groceries and threw in some of Darcy’s favorite heat supplies as well and I’m bringing him home. Can you get the room ready?_

Tony laughed. In all of his secondary gender education classes, he’d been taught that alphas took charge all the time. Omegas were subservient and betas were peacekeepers. Then Tony went and fell in love with a charming brawler of a beta named James Buchanan Barnes and realized that none of those fuckers knew what the hell they were talking about.

The heat room had been Bucky’s idea - designed for his sister Darcy at first, who was an unbonded omega that was desperate to not bond until she finished college. They constructed the most comfortable nest room they could and even connected with a local alpha service in case the toys just didn’t cut it for Darce.

Because Bucky was a _fantastic_ brother, but sharing his mate with his sister was just _not_ happening.

They’d started bringing home other omega strays - as Bucky called them - soon after. If the nest was free and someone needed help, Bucky and Tony were available. Bucky’d settled into his omega-ness after the bond, but since beta-omegas were infertile, their heats were only one or two cycles instead of four and didn’t require nesting.

_Tony: Sure thing, sweetheart._

_Bucky: Thanks, babe. He’s big._

_Tony: Like pregnant?_

_Bucky: No, like… he looks like that guy with the world on his shoulders._

_Bucky: In more ways than one, actually._

_Tony: Bucky._

_Tony: We’ve talked about adopting grown omegas._

_Bucky: I wanna keep him._

_Tony: How do you even know he wants kept!_

_Bucky: I just know._

_Tony: Oh good, another beta instinct._

_Bucky: I’m driving._

_Tony: You ever notice how when I want to yell at you, you’re conveniently driving?_

_Bucky: Home in 15._

Tony huffed, shoved his phone back in his pocket and headed for the linen closet. Time to get ready for Bucky’s newest stray.

* * *

“Why are you doing this?” Steve asked as James futzed around the nest room. He’d gotten Steve settled as soon as they arrived with several hot water bottles, a lot of fluffy blankets, firm pillows, and an arrangement of toys. There was also bottles of Gatorade, boxes of snacks, and a tablet that James had told him was loaded with movies to help pass the time.

“You needed help,” James shrugged, “and we like helping.”

Steve stared at him. “But your alpha-”

“Tony’s gonna stay far away from here. We have a service who can provide a surrogate alpha if you want company that ain’t me,” James explained. “I’m good for the cuddling and the scenting, but not the knotting, ya know.”

Steve blinked. “You’re gonna stay with me?”

James nodded and added two more pillows from the supply closet. “I mean, only if you want me to.”

“Your alpha won’t mind?”

James snorted. “First, I only call him that when I’m riding his knot, so if you’re in our house, just use our names, eh? We’re not those kinda dickheads.”

Steve nodded, still not quite able to process the last few hours of his life. Now that he couldn't smell predatory alpha, his slick glands had slowed down and he was grateful, but the pain was still sharp.

Without even breaking conversational stride, James climbed into the nest and wrapped himself around Steve, breathing quietly and allowing his scent of calm to fill the room. The best way for an omega to pass their heat was obviously with an alpha, but having another omega was wonderful.

“So he’s Tony, and I’m James. He calls me Bucky, though, and a lot of other things that may or may not make sense. Tony’s a big nickname guy.” James’ voice was soft and calm in Steve’s ear and the beta-omega pheromones were loosening the tight cords around Steve’s lungs.

_Safe. Safe. Safe._

He tried to tell himself it was temporary, that he’d be out of this house and these men’s lives as soon as his heat was over and that he shouldn’t get so attached.

But the long dormant part of him that craved a mate, a pack, a home… it was rousing from its slumber.

“What should I call you?”

“‘Hot stuff’ is fine,” James laughed into Steve’s ear and Steve laughed softly. “But Bucky’s what my people call me. So why don’t you use that?”

“Bucky,” Steve breathed. “Stay with me?”

“Absolutely,” Bucky promised.

* * *

“No,” Tony swatted at Bucky as he climbed into bed. “You are covered in him and I know what you’re doing.”

“I ain’t doing nothing, doll, except climbing into my bed with my alpha and -”

“You are a manipulative little shit and you are lucky I love you,” Tony laughed and kissed Bucky languidly.

“Baby,” Bucky said seriously, a few moments later. “The last time I felt this for anyone was you. My instincts say he’s ours.”

“You are forgetting the important matter of consent, James,” Tony replied. “We can’t count any of this as consent - he’s mid-heat.”

“He’s in a lull now,” Bucky replied. “We have two more days before he starts his second cycle. The first one was quiet, but he told me that they get progressively worse as he goes on. He’s going to need you.”

“He’s going to need a service.”

“Tony,” Bucky huffed. “I’m serious. We’ve been talking about adding a pure omega for a while, why are you so-”

“Because you’re jumping about fourteen steps, sweetheart,” Tony cut him off with a kiss. “And that’s normally my job.”

Bucky laughed. “He feels right, Tony.”

Tony sighed deeply and scented Bucky more intentionally. “He smells right.”

Bucky beamed. “See!”

“You are a problematic beta and I never should have mated you,” Tony grumbled.

“I make you unspeakably happy and your only regret is that I can’t give you kids,” Bucky teased, but there was an edge of sadness to it.

“Hey,” Tony’s tone was sharp. “I literally regret nothing about you. I regret nothing about our bond, our marriage, our lives. Do we both want children? Yes. But we knew this was the way it was when we got into this. We talked about adoption and surrogacy and all that from our first date, Buckaroo. I love you and I didn’t marry you for your reproductive capabilities. I married you because we make sense. None of this other bullshit, you hear me, or I’m kicking the walking Dorito back out.”

“Ah, so you did perv on us.”

“Two gorgeous omegas in my house? Please, it’s like you don’t even know me.”

* * *

“I don’t need you right now,” Steve commented to Bucky.

“Wow, you know how to make a fella feel loved, don’t you?”

Steve shoved his shoulder into Bucky’s and huffed a bit. “You know what I mean. I’m not in a cycle right now. Don’t you have other things to do?”

Bucky shrugged. “You wanna pay attention here, pal? We’re getting slaughtered.”

“I can multitask,” Steve protested.

“All evidence to the contrary,” Bucky snarked as his on-screen character dodged another attack. They were playing Borderlands 3 on a PS4 that Bucky had brought down to the heat room.

“Fuck off,” Steve replied and the only sounds for a while were the ones from the game.

Finally, when that particular battle had ended, Bucky hit pause and turned to Steve. “I’m not as smart as Tony, but I got a few brain cells to rub together and so I drew some conclusions. You’re not used to sharing heats, which sucks balls because no one should have to do this alone. I mean, mine are shadows of what yours are and I’m miserable for all four cycles. So, I figured you could use some company.”

Steve frowned slightly, but kept quiet for a few moments, and Bucky let the silence hold.

“I’m not used to people,” Steve said slowly. “For a lot of reasons.”

Bucky was quiet, but his eyes never left Steve.

“I… I’m not a normal omega,” Steve continued. “Even before I grew and started to look like this, I was too mouthy or too opinionated or too… too. And my father hated that, and then the teachers at school hated that and then it just got easier to be alone.”

“I can imagine,” Bucky said quietly.

“I had someone force me to share a heat a few years ago,” Steve continued. “It was hell.”

“An alpha?”

Steve nodded and Bucky drew a sharp breath.

“I’m so sorry. Did you think we were-”

“No,” Steve interrupted and put his hand on Bucky’s arm. “Absolutely not. I just… this is nice, but weird.”

Bucky barked out a laugh. “We get that a lot.”

Steve cocked an eyebrow, clearly indicating he meant for Bucky to go on.

“Tony and I met when I was working at City Hall. A friend of his had gotten a completely bogus parking violation and he came in to protest it. He was getting loud and embarrassing a colleague of mine and so I stepped in. Before I bonded, I gave off a lot of alpha pheromones, and so he assumed I was one.

“Fucker asked me out anyway, if that tells you anything about Tony,” Bucky laughed. “Took about ten minutes into dinner for me to realize that - instincts or not - he was it for me. That our scents felt so right and our hindbrains connected was honestly a bonus. Some of my friends were amazed I was choosing life as an omega, but I just figured they didn’t get what being an omega could be. I could see what life I’d have with Tony and it sounded amazing.”

Steve snorted and then blushed. “Sorry, I would have been one of those people.”

Bucky laughed and put their foreheads together - an instinctual move between omegas to communicate ‘pack’ and Steve was grateful for the calm it brought. “I love my husband, both as a husband and as a bonded mate, but I get that we look weird. I get it.”

“How does it work?”

“Well,” Bucky sighed and shifted. He opened his arms for Steve, indicating an invitation to cuddle, which Steve gratefully took. Steve hadn’t quite realized how touch starved he was until Bucky had placed his hand on his shoulder in the grocery store. He was sure he smelled of desperation, but Bucky seemed to just accept it and not judge it.

The pair shifted in the comfort of the nest and, soon, Steve was curled into Bucky’s side and Bucky was carding his hand through Steve’s hair. His voice was low and soothing as he answered Steve’s question.

“It helps that Tony has money,” Bucky started, “so let’s get that out of the way. When he was super young, like scary young, he figured out how to make streaming video work without bandwidth lag and sold the tech to Apple. So basically, he’s the reason that we all have smartphones and that genius pays well. He used some of the sale to start his own company and so we live pretty good.”

“I’d fucking say,” Steve laughed.

“He’s still an inventor - I can barely drag him out of his workshop most days - but it gives me the freedom to do things I love instead of worrying about a paycheck. So I get to work with a lot of omega service organizations and I do a lot of lobbying for better rights for omegas and betas. I make sure Tony eats and sleeps - which takes up more of my time than he’d ever admit - and I work a lot with his PA at the company to handle his personal press and shit like that,” Bucky paused.

“And you like all that?” Steve ventured.

“I fucking _love_ my life,” Bucky asserted and the room quickly smelled like ‘joy’ and ‘contentment’ and Steve was so jealous he could barely breathe. “I want kids, though, and so does Tony, so we’re figuring that out now. He’s a complete disaster nine days out of ten and I frequently want to kill him, but no one on the planet has ever made me feel safe and wanted the way he does, so all of the little moments where I want to impale him on a spike are worth it.”

Bucky quieted at that, but kept up the motions in Steve’s hair. As Steve drifted into a nap he hadn’t realized he’d needed, Bucky’s words kept dancing in his head. 'Safe' and 'wanted' were words he’d been feeling since he got here and he was already loathe to let them go.

* * *

Tony was nervous. Bucky had told him that Steve was fully lucid and wanted to meet him, but he’d never done this with any of their heat room inhabitants but Darcy. This was… new.

Tony loved new when it came to things with wires. Not a big fan when it came to humans.

He found Steve at the kitchen table, his early-heat exhaustion only adding to his attractiveness. Even without any pheromones dancing in the air, Tony wanted to know this man. To protect him, to claim him, to have him.

 _Fuck_.

“Steve?”

Piercing blue eyes met his quickly and Steve smiled. “Tony, hi. Thank you so much for letting me into your -”

Tony waved him off. “It’s Buck’s place, too. He said you needed a safe space and we’re that. No big deal. How’d the first round go?”

“Bucky helped,” Steve smiled and there was a small ping in Tony’s chest to hear this omega use that name. Buck gave that name out judiciously.

“How long before you usually cycle again?”

“Between one and two is about 2 days, then it shortens. My third and fourth rounds come right after each other,” Steve explained and Tony winced.

“That’s gotta be horrible.”

Steve barked out a laugh. “You know, it’s not something I recommend.”

Tony smiled and made himself some coffee. “Well, let’s just get this out there. Buck and I want to offer my help for any further rounds, as well as his.”

Steve dropped the spoon he was holding. “You what?”

“I know our toys are good - I designed some of them myself - but I’m here. And our scents all kinda work together, have you noticed that?”

Steve nodded slowly, not breaking eye contact.

“Are you on birth control?”

Steve, once again, nodded. “And I haven’t had a partner in… a long, long time.”

“Do you want one?”

Steve’s breath caught and a scent of fear filled the air.

“Hey,” Tony fought his instinct to move directly to Steve’s side. “It’s an offer with no strings. I’ve never had any complaints and I think we can all agree we’d be compatible, but it is 100% your call. We’re big fans of consent in this house. If you say no to anything at any time, then I fuck off and you and Buck can cuddle.”

Steve shook his head in confusion. “Why would you do this?”

“Because whoever hurt you?” Tony said softly. “I got hurt too. And I’m not like them.”

Tony crossed the room swiftly and pressed a gentle kiss to Steve’s head. A hand shot out to hold Tony for a few moments and then a soft ‘ _please_ ’ came through the air.

Tony cupped Steve’s face and turned it towards him. “You’re safe now, handsome. Just send Buck for when you need me.”

* * *

“Tony, sweetheart,” Bucky nosed at Tony’s scent gland and kissed their bond mark. “It’s time.”

Tony blinked a few times and sniffed the air. He could smell Bucky - leather and freshly cut grass and the softest hint of metal - but there was something new.

_Apples… and… was that cotton? Like laundry being hung outside to dry? And…_

And then the final scent - the one that clung to an alpha and begged for bonding - hit Tony like a brick.

 _Coffee_.

The random omega that Bucky brought home smelled like Tony’s wet dreams from right after he presented and if that just wasn’t confirmation…

Tony was out of bed and on the way to the heat room without another thought. Halfway down the stairs, he realized Bucky was following him.

“What’s the plan, Buck?”

Bucky smirked. “You think you’re the only one here who wants him?”

Tony held Bucky’s gaze for a beat and then nodded. He grabbed his mate’s hand and they entered Steve’s room together.

Tony creaked open the door. “Steve?”

“Alpha… Tony… please…” came the groan from somewhere inside the nest of blankets and Bucky went first. He uncovered Steve and directed Tony to get a washcloth to cool down the omega’s forehead.

“You’re not alone,” Bucky murmured to Steve, drawing him in for a gentle kiss that quickly turned ferocious. Tony could hear the clashing of teeth and the sharp draws of breath and the smells that filled the room made him feel primal. _Farther along than I thought._

Tony quickly got rid of his clothes and entered the nest - realizing as soon as he did that he’d made a mistake. Steve’s entire body tensed and Bucky’s eyes met Tony’s.

“Babe, just give me the washcloth?”

Tony nodded and stepped back out, putting all of his energy into scenting the room with ‘safe’ and ‘wanted’ - the way Bucky had taught him to do.

Watching Bucky and Steve wasn’t exactly a hardship, though, he had to admit.

“Gorgeous,” Bucky murmured as he trailed kisses down Steve’s neck and laved his tongue over Steve’s bonding gland. “Such a good omega, such a good boy, such a strong omega.”

Steve whimpered and moved his hand back towards his hole, clearly in need of some relief. Tony quickly grabbed a toy from the box and got Bucky’s attention. He tossed the toy to his mate and then watched Bucky guide it into Steve’s hole.

“You know how good this feels, but it’s still wrong?” Bucky was saying as he continued to kiss and lick and suck Steve’s face and neck. “Our alpha, he can fix this.”

Something in Tony’s hindbrain calcified at Bucky’s use of the word ‘ours’. _Fuck me if this guy walks away after this._

Bucky was still speaking in that low murmur that seemed to calm Steve. Steve had taken the toy and was ramming it into himself in a desperate rhythm that made Tony ache to take over.

 _No_ , he scolded himself. _This is Steve’s nest and you haven’t been invited._

“Our alpha,” Bucky was saying, “is good and kind and wants to help. He’ll give you his knot if you want, if you need it, but only if you ask. He’s safe, our alpha, Tony is good and safe and kind. Do you want him to help?”

Steve whimpered, but turned to Tony. “Please, alpha. I need your knot.”

Tony was in the nest and kissing Steve before he even knew his feet had moved. Somewhere in the distance, he heard Bucky chuckle, but he couldn’t quite register it. He gripped Steve tenderly, but firmly, and kept up the praise that Bucky had started.

“You’re such a good boy, such a strong man,” Tony murmured between kisses. Steve surged into Tony - kissing him deeply and reaching for his cock.

“In me,” Steve’s breath was heavy with desperation, “please. Now.”

Tony felt around Steve’s hole and his hand was quickly covered in slick. Steve’s body was desperate and Tony had never had an orgasm denial kink. “Baby,” Tony whispered, “get into whatever position you’re most comfortable in.”

Steve looked at him with wide eyes and Tony absolutely knew that this had never happened with Steve’s consent before.

“Why don’t you try on your hands and knees?” Bucky supplied. “That’s the way I like it.”

Steve shook his head and Tony was desperate to know the story this man came with, but now was not the time.

“On your back?” Bucky suggested and Tony saw that his mate had moved closer to Steve again and was running his hands through the blonde man’s hair. Tony took a deep breath and could smell ‘panic’ in the room.

“You need to have some control, don’t you, handsome?” Tony smiled at Steve kindly. “That’s fine, we can do that.” Tony rearranged himself so he was flat on his back. He gave two quick tugs to his own penis and knew his knot was ready. “Climb on, gorgeous.”

Something in Steve’s face shifted and soon he was guiding himself down on Tony’s cock.

“Yes, you beautiful omega, you strong, handsome, stunning omega, that’s it,” Tony murmured, grabbing Steve’s thighs and kneading his fingers in them. “That feels so good, doesn’t it? So right? God, you’re gorgeous on me, full of me, I can barely stand it.”

Steve’s hole was tight and it was only biology that allowed for Tony’s cock to make a quick entrance. Tony idly wondered how long it had been for Steve to have a shared heat, but the way Steve’s muscles gripped Tony told him all he needed to know. Steve began to grind into a rhythm and Tony could feel his orgasm building.

“Fuck, condom?” Tony whispered. It had been so long since he’d been with a fertile omega, he had completely forgotten.

“Birth control, remember? And you ain’t prying me off of here with the jaws of fucking life,” Steve ground out and Tony laughed. The first full sentence Steve had spoken since the evening began told Tony so many things - the hormones were evening out now that Steve was full of alpha, and that Bucky had convinced Steve to trust Tony beyond just being a convenient alpha cock.

Tony and Bucky made eye contact and he knew just what his mate was thinking. Tony gave a swift nod and curled his knees just the littlest bit, the way he knew Bucky liked, to give Steve more leverage to work off of.

“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it,” Bucky replied and moved to kiss Steve.

“Jesus god, that is so hot I’m going to blow,” Tony replied.

“Go for it, sugar,” Bucky replied and continued to … well, the only word Tony could identify was ‘plunder’ for what Bucky was doing to Steve’s mouth.

Steve’s leaking cock was hitting Tony’s abdomen with every bounce and there was a small sheen of precome covering Tony. “Steve, I’m going to grab your gorgeous cock now, because I want us to come together, is that okay?”

“God, consent is so sexy,” Bucky breathed and Steve nodded.

Tony’s hand wrapped itself around Steve and tried to match the rhythm Steve had set for them. Within moments, Tony let go and Steve wasn’t far behind. As soon as all of his semen was in Steve, Tony could feel his knot begin to form and he grabbed for Steve to lay on top of him.

“Come ‘ere and kiss me, beautiful,” Tony murmured.

“How long,” Steve rasped as he ran his hands through Tony’s sweat-soaked curls once they broke the kiss.

“About a half-hour,” Tony whispered.

The mattress that served as the base of the nest shifted and Bucky started gently cleaning them both. Tony hadn’t even noticed he was gone.

“I’m heavy,” Steve said from his position still on top of Tony.

“You feel good,” Tony replied. “Like the weighted blankets my PA wants me to buy.”

“He just tells her he married a weighted blanket,” Bucky smirked. Both men wiped a bit, Bucky settled into Tony’s side where he could easily kiss and stroke each of them.

“Why did this feel so right,” Steve said after a few moments.

“We have some theories,” Bucky replied. “But do you have an answer?”

“You need a fertile omega,” Steve replied, “biologically and instinctually, and I happened to be here.”

Tony grabbed Steve’s face with both hands, forcing the other man to look at him. “Yes to the first bit but an absolutely resounding no fucking way to the last.”

“We want kids, yes,” Bucky replied. “I told you that, but you smell right.”

“One of the quirks of an alpha/beta mating,” Tony jumped in, “is that we emit a scent specific to our bond upon bonding. It’s usually the scent an alpha first latched onto as they presented. For me, it was coffee. So when Buck and I claimed each other-”

“You hear that,” Bucky whispered, interrupting Tony and addressing Steve. “We claimed each other. Doesn’t that just make you go gooey inside?”

Tony shook his head, but his expression was full of affection as he continued. “When Buck and I claimed each other, we smelled like coffee. Do you know your base scent?”

“It’s coffee,” Steve said, with wonder in his voice. “I smell like your bond scent.”

Tony smiled. “You do, gorgeous. So, biologically, you belong here and with us. That’s why I fit so well so quickly and why you felt so safe with Buck immediately and why this just... “

“This feels right,” Bucky finished.

A calm settled over the three. They each kissed and stroked and caressed as Tony’s knot slowly deflated and Steve eventually pulled himself off of the alpha.

“I’m going to shower,” Steve said.

“You wanna do that alone?” Bucky raised an eyebrow and Steve nodded.

“Maybe next time, but right now… this is a lot.”

“Take your time, gorgeous,” Tony replied. “Bucky and I will get the room ready for the next round.”

“It’ll be about a day,” Steve replied. “Give or take a few hours.”

“Well, we’ll be prepared,” Tony said with a smile. “And when you’re out of the shower, do you want to eat down here or up in the family room?”

“Are you-”

“Easier to eat pizza on a couch than in a nest,” Bucky interrupted as he kissed Steve’s temple.

“Upstairs,” Steve replied with that hint of wonder back in his voice.

“We’ll see you there.”

* * *

Years later - when their children were all grown and they were hosting a dinner party in honor of Tony passing the company down to their daughter, Vivienne - one of their friends asked Steve what made him follow Bucky out of the grocery store that day. Steve had smiled at the friend and replied that Bucky had smelled like home.

Bucky had rolled his eyes, called his mate a cheeseball, and gone to tell their five-year-old granddaughter Marie to stop climbing a tree. Tony had made a joke about coming home that made the whole table groan, and Steve had asked if anyone needed more to drink.

And all the while, the smell of coffee filled the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Twitter or Tumblr for more on these yahoos. You can also submit prompts and cajole me into writing faster - it usually works. If you're on Discord, I'm definitely there, too, and probably hanging in the Stony or Stuckony servers.  
> ___  
> For the Stuckony Winter Wonderland Event: NSFW 50: A/B/O - Omega Steve goes into heat while out at the market alone. He gets saved by a beta named Tony Stark and taken back to Tony’s mansion and alpha mate, James Barnes. What started out as another potentially lonesome and dreaded heat becomes one of the most passion-filled weeks of Steve’s life. (Your choice if he’s small pre-serum Steve or hot post-beard or no beard Steve.)
> 
> I played a bit loose with this prompt, I know. My muse begs mea culpa  
> ___
> 
> For MCU Polyship Bingo: Fill "Anxiety"  
> ___
> 
> For Stucky Bingo 2019: "Self-Esteem Issues"  
> ___
> 
> For StarSpangled Bingo 2020: Square A3: "Sensual Sex"
> 
> ___
> 
> For Tony Stark Bingo:  
> Title: The Sweet Smell of Coffee  
> Collaborator Name: BeTheFlame  
> Card Number: 3017  
> Square Filled: A3: Free Square  
> Ship/Main Pairing: Stuckony  
> Rating: E  
> Major Tags: A/B/O, Beta Bucky, Alpha Tony, Omega Steve, Knotting, Fluff and Smut  
> Summary: Omega Steve goes into heat at the grocery store and is rescued by Beta Bucky and brought back to Alpha Tony for the best heat of his life.  
> Word Count: 5073


	2. Art from Tifftac!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the glorious [Tifftac](https://tifftac.tumblr.com) for this representation of the end of the fic! Commission her!


End file.
